Ex-governor calls Schock 'future' of state GOP

Former Gov. Jim Thompson said Tuesday he considers state Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, the kind of person who can return lost strength to the state GOP.

Bernard Schoenburg

Former Gov. Jim Thompson said Tuesday he considers state Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, the kind of person who can return lost strength to the state GOP.

“The Republican Party in the state of Illinois desperately needs a future,” Thompson told reporters at The Sangamo Club, where he appeared for a $125-per-person fundraiser for Schock, who is running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House from the 18th Congressional District. “And it needs young men and women of courage and vision and fortitude and an appetite for the campaign trail, as well as clear-headed thinking about what to accomplish in public office once elected. Illinois has rarely seen the kind of candidate that Aaron Schock represents.”

Thompson said Schock works harder than any candidate in his memory and would be an “extraordinary representative” in Congress.

Asked about Schock’s early campaign position that included the possible sale of nuclear weapons to Taiwan, Thompson said it would have bothered him had Schock not taken that back.

“I admire candidates who, on further reflection, either refine their position — not flip-flop — refine their position, and after thinking about it are courageous enough to say, ‘You know, maybe I shouldn’t have said that,’” Thompson said.

Thompson’s Chicago law firm, Winston & Strawn, represents Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund, but Thompson doesn’t think that should diminish his ability to promote Republican candidates of his choice. He said the firm has no political or other litmus tests, represents a wide range of clients, and the representation “has got nothing to do with my political views.”

He did not discuss any specifics of the representation of the Blagojevich fund.

“I don’t think it would be ethical or appropriate of me to discuss a client’s business in public,” Thompson said.

Schock is running against former Peoria City Council member John Morris and Jim McConoughey, who runs a business umbrella group in the Peoria area, for the GOP nomination for the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, who is not seeking re-election.

No Democrat is on Tuesday’s primary ballot, though Democratic Party leaders can later name a candidate to the November general election ballot.